Vial and Burns challenge Sliabh Liag murder convictions at Court of Appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Alan Vial and Nikita Burns have asked the Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions for murdering Robert Wilkin. Vial argued that Burns’s statements to others unfairly prejudiced his trial and that the pair should have been tried separately; Burns argued her incriminating statements were involuntary and should not have been heard by the jury.

The prosecution argued there was ample evidence against Vial independent of Burns’s statements and that Burns’s statements to private citizens were admissible. The three-judge court reserved judgment.